Road to Rio: Dominique Bouchard says don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game

Olympic insight: Perseverance has paid off for swimmer Dominique Bouchard, who will start her career in healthcare after the Games. She speaks about having a positive outlook and the importance of networking in this leadership Q&A

Dominique Bouchard upped her game to get into the Olympics, while also doing a master's degree in health administration.

In this weekly series we feature an Olympic athlete who juggles work and sport. The Q&As give you their insights for peak performance and top tips to help you.

Dominique Bouchard, 25, has always juggled her swim training with her studies in science and healthcare. Competing in the 200-metre backstroke last year, she won a silver at the Pan Am Games in Toronto and placed sixth at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

Bouchard was 10 months old when she took a Water Babies program and seven years old when she started to swim competitively. Despite being afraid when she first heard the starting gun, she carried on and competed at her first senior national championships when she was 13. Her motto is never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

Currently based in Columbia, Missouri, she has a bachelor of science in biology, a bachelor of arts in psychology and will be receiving a master’s in health administration in December from the University of Missouri.

After the Games, she’ll be working at the University of Missouri Hospital in the patient access department on projects related to workflow, insurance approvals and finance. She’s also applying to go to medical school in the fall of 2017.

Bouchard was born in St. Albert, Alberta and grew up in North Bay, Ontario. Rio will be her first Games. She’ll be competing in the 100-metre backstroke on Aug. 7 and in the 200-metre backstroke on Aug. 11.

Q: As an athlete at the top of your sport, do you have a performance tip that could help business leaders at the top of their fields?

A: The most important thing is to surround yourself with people that you can trust and can work with effectively. These are people that aren’t afraid to give you constructive criticism, have a positive outlook and are motivated to be the best in their field.

Q: What’s an Olympic lesson that you’ve learned?

A: In 2012, I missed qualifying for the London Olympics in two events by less than half a second. This taught me that you must always learn from your failures and continue to work hard to achieve your goals. There will always be obstacles in the way, but there will also always be a way to overcome them.

I missed qualifying for the London Olympics in two events by less than half a second. This taught me that you must always learn from your failures

Q: How do you think your development as an athlete will help in your career outside of sport?

A: I’ve always been a student-athlete. I take a full course load with about 12-15 hours a week of studies and I do at least 20 hours a week of training. Needless to say, I’ve developed my time management skills, my organizational skills and perseverance through sport.

Also, being on a swim team, you must work with a very diverse group of people, so I’ve learned to listen well and to always be respectful of others. These are all qualities that I believe are extremely important for anyone wanting to work in the healthcare field.

Q: Can you give me an example of how you overcame a challenge?

A: I had to make a lot of changes in my life when I missed qualifying for the Olympics in 2012. I decided that I needed to take more control of my training and have better communication with the coaches, so my training could be more tailored to what I had to do to reach my goal of going to the Games.

I not only increased my hours in the weight room, but I also increased the amount of swimming I was doing, it order to have a better aerobic base. I’m happy to say that these changes have made me a better athlete and helped me achieve my childhood dream of competing in the Olympics.

Q: What’s the best thing you’ve learned from a mentor?

A: I’ve had many mentors throughout my athletic and academic career. The best thing I learned from them is that networking is one of the most important aspects of the “real” world. You need to make as many connections as possible because you never know when you’ll need help.

Q: What inspires you?

A: I’m inspired when people achieve their goals – especially when they’ve overcome a lot to get to there.

Q: What are you most looking forward to at the Olympics?

A: I’m most looking forward to competing and I’m also looking forward to being surrounded by the world’s best athletes.

The more often you compete against the best in the world, the less intimidating the competitors become and the more you start feeling that you belong

Q: Can you comment on how you mentally prepare for peak performance?

A: I think the ability to be mentally prepared for peak performance comes from experience. The more often you compete against the best in the world, the less intimidating the competitors become and the more you start feeling that you belong.

Q: How do you approach competition?

A: I approach it as an opportunity to become better and to have fun doing what I love.

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